What Is TrendWeight, Exactly?

When you really want to track your weight loss, you probably know you should disregard
day to day changes in weight and instead focus on the trend over time. To do this,
TrendWeight uses the methodology described by John Walker in his online book, The
Hacker's Diet.

The idea is pretty simple. You weigh yourself each day on either a FitBit Aria Scale
or a Nokia Body Scale, and TrendWeight will plot a moving average from your daily
weight alongside your daily scale weight. This gives you a better idea of your weight
trend by masking most of the day to day noise that variances in water weight introduce.
Your dashboard will also calculate some statistics that will help you fine tune
how much you are eating so that you hit your desired rate of weight loss.

And once you reach your goal, keep weighing yourself every day. TrendWeight will
show a goal range that is 2.5 pounds above and below your goal weight so that you
can more easily see if your weight starts to creep up too high and you need to go
back to the techniques that helped you lose weight in the first place.

Help / Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to have a FitBit or Nokia scale to use this site? Can I manually enter
my weight data instead?

You'll have the best experience if you have to have either a FitBit or a Nokia
scale. If you don't have one and would like to buy one, the easiest way to
get one is on Amazon: FitBit Aria
or Nokia Body Scale.
They are both easy to setup. They measures both weight
and body fat. And they can be used by everyone in your household.

If you don't have a scale, you can do things manually by creating a FitBit account and hand entering your weight there every day. Go ahead and
connect your TrendWeight account to your FitBit account as if you had a scale. TrendWeight
won't know that your weight readings were entered manually.

Is there an iOS or Android App for TrendWeight?

No, there are not native applications for smartphones (iOS/Android/Windows/etc), and I don't have any plans to develop apps. That said, the TrendWeight web app is reasonably optimized for smartphones
If you visit TrendWeight.com on your iOS or Android device, you'll see an phone-optimized view of your dashboard.

How do I switch from a Nokia Scale to a FitBit Aria Scale (or vice versa)?

You need to disconnect from your current scale and then you'll be able to connect
to a new, difference scale. First, go to your settings page. At the bottom of your settings page you'll see an option
to disconnect you current scale. Click it. Next, go back to your dashboard and you'll
be asked to connect a new scale to your account.

Why aren't all of my past weight readings appearing in TrendWeight?

TrendWeight will retrieve all of the weight readings from your WiFi scale that happened
on or after the Start Date listed on your settings page. You can adjust your start date to make more (or fewer) days
of your weight data appear in TrendWeight. Choose an earlier start date and more
data will be included.

What mathmatical analysis is being used to calculate my trend weight?

The techiques used on TrendWeight come from John Walker's The Hacker's Diet. I found it to be
an interesting read (and it's free!). In particular, I recommend reading the "Signal
and Noise" chapter for a better understanding of the weight tracking methodology
used on this site.

Can I use this outside the U.S.?

Yes! TrendWeight now supports weights in kilograms in addition to pounds. That said,
the site is only available in English. So as long as you're ok with that limitation,
you're welcome to use it.

What happens if I weight myself multiple times in one day?

TrendWeight will only use one weigh-in per day. Currently, the first weigh-in of
the day is used. This is usually most appropriate if your habit is to step on the
scale first thing in the morning after you wake up. There may be an option to configure
this behavior in a future update. If your first weigh-in of the day is incorrect
for some reason and you don't want TrendWeight to use that data, you can log into
the FitBit or Nokia website and edit or delete that incorrect data point and
TrendWeight will use the corrected data.

Can I use share my weight trend charts and stats with others?

Yep! Losing weight is hard, and sharing your progress with the people who support
you can help improve your odds of success. Each user gets a private URL that can
be given to friends and family. That URL will allow anyone to see your trend graphs
and statistics (so only give it to people you want to see your charts and stats).
Go to your Settings page to find your private URL. You can also change your private
URL at any time in case you gave your URL to someone and later decide you don't
want them to see your stats anymore.

Is there some way I can help support TrendWeight?

TrendWeight is an app that I created in my free time out of a passion for tech gadgets and software
development (and because I wanted this functionality for myself). TrendWeight is free, but if you'd
like to know how to help support TrendWeight, you can read more here.

I have a question you didn't answer or a suggestion for a new feature!

No problem. If you have a question that you don't see answered here, feel free to
email support@trendweight.com. If you have a suggestion
for how TrendWeight could be better, you can also email me at support@trendweight.com
or you can post your suggestion here.